Imperative Mood in Finnish

Overview

The imperative mood is used for commands, instructions, requests, and invitations. At the B1 level, you will learn not just the basic 2nd person commands (which you may have encountered informally at A1), but the full imperative system including formal commands, 1st person plural ("let's"), and negative imperatives.

Finnish imperatives are relatively straightforward to form. The 2nd person singular imperative is simply the verb stem — the shortest possible verb form. Plural and formal imperatives add specific endings. The negative imperative uses a special form of the negative auxiliary: älä (singular) and älkää (plural).

Commands are common in everyday Finnish — in recipes, instructions, signs, and casual conversation. Using them correctly is important because the wrong form can sound rude or confusingly informal.

How It Works

Imperative forms

Person	Formation	Example (puhua)	English
sinä (you sg.)	verb stem	Puhu!	Speak!
te (you pl./formal)	stem + -kaa/-kää	Puhukaa!	Speak! (plural/formal)
me (let's)	passive present stem	Puhutaan!	Let's speak!
hän/he (3rd person)	stem + -koon/-köön	Puhukoon!	Let him/her speak!

Examples by verb type

Type	Infinitive	Singular	Plural	Let's
1	puhua	Puhu!	Puhukaa!	Puhutaan!
1	lukea	Lue!	Lukekaa!	Luetaan!
2	syödä	Syö!	Syökää!	Syödään!
3	tulla	Tule!	Tulkaa!	Tullaan!
3	mennä	Mene!	Menkää!	Mennään!
4	haluta	Halua!	Halutkaa!	Haluttakoon!

Negative imperative

Person	Formation	Example	English
sinä	älä + verb stem	Älä puhu!	Don't speak!
te	älkää + stem + -ko/-kö	Älkää puhuko!	Don't speak! (pl.)
me	älkäämme / ei puhuta	Ei puhuta!	Let's not speak!

Object case in imperatives

In affirmative imperatives, the total object takes nominative (not genitive):

Imperative	Normal sentence
Osta auto! (Buy a car!)	Ostan auton. (I buy a car.)
Lue kirja! (Read the book!)	Luen kirjan. (I read the book.)

In negative imperatives, the object takes partitive (as in all negative sentences):

Negative imperative
Älä osta autoa! (Don't buy a car!)
Älä lue kirjaa! (Don't read the book!)

Examples in Context

Finnish	English	Note
Tule tänne!	Come here!	Singular imperative
Mene pois!	Go away!	Singular imperative
Odota hetki!	Wait a moment!	Singular imperative
Puhukaa hiljempaa.	Speak more quietly.	Plural/formal
Mennään ulos!	Let's go outside!	1st person plural
Syödään yhdessä!	Let's eat together!	1st person plural
Älä unohda avaimia!	Don't forget the keys!	Negative singular
Älkää juosko!	Don't run!	Negative plural
Istu alas, ole hyvä.	Sit down, please.	Polite command
Kerro minulle!	Tell me!	Singular
Avataan ikkuna!	Let's open the window!	1st person plural
Älä huolehdi!	Don't worry!	Common expression
Anna minulle se!	Give it to me!	Singular + nominative object
Ottakaa mukavasti.	Make yourselves comfortable.	Plural/formal

Common Mistakes

Using genitive object in affirmative imperative

• Wrong: Osta auton!
• Right: Osta auto!
• Why: In affirmative imperatives, the total object takes the nominative form (no -n ending), not the genitive.

Using the wrong negative auxiliary

• Wrong: Ei puhu! or En puhu! (for commands)
• Right: Älä puhu! (singular) / Älkää puhuko! (plural)
• Why: The imperative has its own negative forms: älä (sg.) and älkää (pl.). These are distinct from the regular negative auxiliary ei.

Mixing up singular and plural forms

• Wrong: Tulkaa! to one friend
• Right: Tule! to one friend, Tulkaa! to a group
• Why: Use the singular imperative for one person and the plural for groups or formal address.

Forgetting the "let's" form

• Wrong: Me menemme! (indicative, not imperative)
• Right: Mennään! (let's go!)
• Why: The "let's" form in Finnish uses the passive present form. This is one of the most common imperative uses.

Usage Notes

The "let's" imperative using the passive form (mennään, syödään, tehdään) is extremely common in spoken Finnish. In fact, it is the standard way to express "let's do something" and is used more frequently than many other imperative forms. You will hear it constantly.

For politeness, Finns often soften imperatives by adding ole hyvä (please), using the conditional (Voisitko tulla? — "Could you come?"), or using the passive "let's" form instead of a direct command.

Practice Tips

1. Daily instructions: Give yourself instructions in Finnish throughout the day: Herää! Nouse ylös! Mene suihkuun! Syö aamupalaa!
2. "Let's" practice: Suggest activities using the passive imperative: Mennään kauppaan! Katsotaan elokuva! Soitetaan Mikalle!
3. Negative command pairs: Practice positive and negative commands together: Tule! / Älä tule! Puhu! / Älä puhu! Mene! / Älä mene!

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense — verb stems are the basis for imperative forms